UK airline bosses warn PM against making all arrivals subject to hotel quarantine
The bosses of British Airways, Easyjet, Virgin Atlantic, Jet2 and others have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to warn him off a blanket policy forcing all UK arrivals into hotel quarantine.
“We have seen no compelling scientific evidence that introducing a policy potentially of blanket quarantine in hotels, is necessary in addition to measures only recently introduced.
“What is clear is the dramatic impact that restrictions – both current and should hotel quarantine be introduced – will continue to have both on UK airlines, and the wider UK economy”.
The signatories of the letter compiled by aviation lobby group Airlines UK includes Easyjet CEO Johan Lundgren, Sean Doyle who runs BA, Virgin Atlantic boss Shai Weiss and Steve Heapy from Jet2.com.
The Prime Minister has recently indicated a move to tighten entry requirements into the UK to help to the spread of new Covid-19 variant, although the official announcement has been delayed several times.
The letter to Johnson also pushes for sector-specific financial support to see it through the pandemic.
“With the latest lockdown, travel ban and now prospect of hotel quarantine, the time has now come for a bespoke support package that can get UK airlines through this crisis, and a roadmap out of these restrictions that draws upon the tools available now to us, including testing, working in concert with vaccine rollout at home and internationally”.
Aviation and travel has been one of the hardest-hit industries due to the pandemic.